Free, for now
by Perinne
Summary: The Flock has finally escaped the school but Max is struggling with the concept of freedom and is failing to let go of the past. People and plans from the past return to haunt her and the Flock's new-found peace is torn apart. Sequel to 'What if'
1. Chapter 1

_Free, for now_

_-----------------------_

_Chapter 1_

The face was familiar, the fair hair, the pale skin. In all of them she wore the same expression; cold, determined, as if she knew what she wanted and would achieve it at all costs. I knew what she wanted, too, but I would never allow the Director to find my family.

Pain lanced through my head, from temple to temple and a faint voice echoed through my mind.

'_She must be stopped.'_ That one sentence replayed on repeat, over and over again, steadily growing in volume as the pain also increased.

It was becoming unbearable and I opened my mouth to scream.

I sat up in bed, sweat dripping from my forehead even though we were deep in the midst of winter.

I sighed, partly in relief that the dream was over and partly in frustration. That wasn't the first time I had had that dream, in fact, it had become a nightly occurrence over the past few months. To tell the truth, it was really starting to piss me off; sleep was supposed to be peaceful and serene, not full of images of evil women that apparently must be stopped.

Tossing the dark blue bed covers aside, I swung my feet over and onto the floor, wincing as they came into contact with the cold wood. I pulled the socks I had been wearing the night before back onto my feet and silently padded down the hallway.

Unsurprisingly, Fang was already awake, fully clothed, of course, and looking as if he had been awake for hours. He was sitting on one of the kitchen stools and looked up at my approach, skimming his eyes over my pyjamas before raising an eyebrow.

I gave him the finger and ignored the resulting smirk, grabbing a glass out of one of the kitchen cupboards and filling it up at the sink. I didn't know who was paying the bills and, to tell the truth, I didn't really care; as long as everything kept working, it was all good by me.

I was still unnerved by the dream, though; I didn't want to be reminded of my time spent at the School and I really didn't want to be reminded of my so-called mother.

It had been around a year and a half since our miraculous escape and it seemed that I was still having a hard time forgetting the past. Either that or my subconscious wasn't letting me forget.

The sun hadn't quite risen yet and I stared out at the dark landscape through the window that we were all too lazy to wash. It was the second winter we had spent away from the School and yet every morning I was still surprised to wake up and be able to see outside. To be able to see the snow. The others had adapted to freedom easily, only I seemed unable to let things go. Fang had relaxed somewhat, but was still wary sometimes, still unwilling to trust. His conversational skills hadn't really improved that much either.

I sighed and turned away from the winter wonderland outside, slowly drinking my water and placing the glass in the sink.

Fang was still there, leaning casually against the pale wall that contrasted starkly with his dark clothing and hair. He was still watching me but now his gaze was curious, almost frustrated.

I turned back to the kitchen, opened a cupboard and pulled out a loaf of bread. "You want toast?"

"Not if you're cooking."

I turned to face him, eyes narrowing. "Very funny." At this point, I was considering belting him with the bread but decided it wouldn't be worth the possibility that the loaf might get squashed.

We had found out pretty soon after moving in that I wasn't a good cook. Okay, that was an understatement; I was a terrible cook, usually I just stayed away from the kitchen. This morning, however, Iggy, who had taken on the role of head chef, wasn't up yet which was why I was offering to make Fang breakfast. An offer that I was now beginning to regret as a smirk spread across his face.

The canned food we had found in the house hadn't lasted long, so now, whenever we needed more supplies, we stole stuff from the holiday cabins that were spread out across the mountains. We made sure not to target any particular cabin and always left them in the same condition we found them in, minus the food and other stuff we took, of course. We had some morals, or at least I tried to pretend so for the kids' sake.

I put the bread on the countertop, deciding that maybe I wasn't actually that hungry. Fang was watching my movements with the same slightly frustrated look he had on his face before, he had been doing this a lot lately, increasingly so.

"I'm going for a walk." I told him and walked out of the kitchen.

On my way out, I met Iggy. His reddish gold hair was sticking up every which way and he, too, was still wearing his pyjamas. He was fifteen now and freakishly tall, even for one of us.

"Hey, Max," I really didn't know how he could tell us apart, I mean, how did he know someone was there at all? I thought I was pretty quiet walker, stealthy even, not quite as stealthy as Fang, but you get the idea.

"Not having breakfast?" He continued.

"Ah, no, I'm not hungry."

He narrowed his sightless eyes at me but not meanly, more as if he was trying to figure something out, figure me out. "You've changed." He blurted out.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. "We've all changed, Ig; we were apart for a long time." God, I hope this wasn't something to do with the dreams.

"No, recently; the past few months." Crap, he was onto me.

"Changed how?" I asked, trying to act like I didn't know what he was talking about.

"You just seem different somehow; quieter," He paused, searching for the right word. "Preoccupied, or something. Don't try and deny it either, Fang's noticed, too."

I guess that would explain the weird looks that he's been giving me but I wasn't about to let on that I knew something was affecting me.

"Huh, I hadn't really noticed I was acting any different." I was lying through my teeth and Iggy obviously knew it, his pale face creasing into a frown.

He opened his mouth, probably to accuse me of something else but I interrupted him. "Sorry, Ig, I've gotta go; want to go for a walk before the sun's fully up." With that, I walked away.

I walked out onto one of the balconies that overlooked the canyon and spread my tawny wings. Sure, I had told Fang and Iggy that I was going for a walk but that was only because flying was banned during the hours that the sun didn't shine. It had been a group decision; flying at night was dangerous; visibility was reduced and many evil things could creep up on you using the shadow of night as a cover. However, I enjoyed doing it and frequently broke the rule, secretly of course. Flying in darkness was just, I don't know, exhilarating or something.

I stepped up on to the railing and jumped off, letting the wind catch my wings and propel me forwards and upwards. Pumping my wings, I flew away from the house, being careful not to fly in front of any windows where I might be spotted by a certain dark-haired bird kid.

It was cold out and I was already regretting not changing into some more appropriate flight wear.

The moon was still up, making the smooth, untouched snow gleam eerily and causing the needles on the nearby pine trees to shine silver. I had mostly come out here to relax, to try and forget the dreams, the past, basically everything. Out here, high up in the sky, I actually felt free, unburdened, I guess you could say.

My breath was puffs of white against the dark sky and I shivered as a breeze blew through my thin cotton pyjamas.

I sighed in regret; it was probably time to head back anyway. I had been out here for quite and while and the younger ones were probably beginning to wake up. Not to mention that Fang would freak if he found out I was flying around out here. Breaking one of the rules I had helped to create.

The trip back to the house was uneventful, as always, though a bit longer than I was expecting, I must have flown further than I thought. The only mishap was when I tried to land on the balcony railing; I had forgotten, somehow, that it was winter and that there would be snow and ice on the wooden rail. So, of course it was slippery, and of course I slipped and fell painfully, and loudly, to the wooden decking of the balcony.

Profanities of all forms and sizes spewed forth from my mouth and into the pristine, mountain air, only halting when I noticed Fang watching me from the doorway.

He raised his eyebrows, "What are you doing?" Just his tone made me feel like an idiot, and I don't like feeling like an idiot.

I thought that would have been obvious, Fang, I'm lying in a pile of extremely cold slush on the balcony floor whilst in much pain, was what I thought. My actual answer, however, was a little more polite.

"I fell off the railing." I told him, slowly climbing to feet and trying to ignore the bruise that I could already feel forming on my hip.

He looked sceptical. "Why were you on the railing?"

"Um," I bit my tongue. "I was testing my balance." Great excuse, Max, very ingenious.

"Couldn't you have changed out of your pyjamas first?" Why must he always notice these things? "Besides, I thought you said you were going for a walk."

Cursing, mentally this time, I replied. "Yeah, I did, then I came back and wanted to test my balance."

I could tell he didn't believe me and I think somehow he knew I had gone flying but he just nodded and told me to change clothes before I came to breakfast. After that, he walked away.

I looked down at my pyjamas, they were pretty wet, but what concerned me more was the fact that they had gone see through.

I swore again as I realised Fang must have noticed. I had stood there talking to him whilst he could plainly see my underwear.

Today was just not my day.

**A/N: So, I actually managed to get this written a lot faster than I expected, which surprises me.**

**Anyway, my English teacher says I make my sentences too long so I have tried to fix that. I know not much happened but it's sort of an introductory chapter. **

**Please review and tell me what you think. Is it better or worse than What if? Is everyone in character? Did my line break work?** **If not, does anyone know how to get line breaks?**


	2. Chapter 2

_Free, for now_

_---------------------------_

_Chapter 2_

_In which Max does battle with a door_

I spent the rest of that morning avoiding Fang and cleaning. Not very interesting pastimes, I know but there's not much I can do about that; the house has to stay clean somehow and I refuse to trust Iggy with a vacuum cleaner.

Fang seemed to trying to avoid me as well, so I didn't actually see him that much and avoiding from him was actually quite easy. I wasn't actually sure if he was staying clear because of this morning or because he didn't want to have to help with the cleaning. I'm pretty sure that seeing me semi-naked this morning had something to do with it, though.

I cringed at the memory and continued sweeping the hallway. I tried to sweep, or get someone else to sweep the house around once a week but everyone usually stayed out of this part of the house and it obviously hadn't gone through any form of cleaning in a long time. Actually, I can't remember ever cleaning this part of the house.

I was considering whether it was actually worth cleaning up here when no one ever came here anyway, when I noticed the door.

Like I said, usually this part of the house is ignored. It's sort of an attic, I guess, and everything else, like the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens, were on the main level, below. I think that I had come up here once, twice at the most and I had never really looked around that much.

Why had I come up here this morning? Well, I was kind of hoping that if I stayed up here, I wouldn't have to see Fang at all today. Gutless? Yes. But also quite convenient.

I reached out my hand and tried to turn the knob, only to find the door was locked. I narrowed my eyes at the plain wood of the door; no one keeps Maximum Ride out of a room in her own house.

The door, however, seemed to be planning to do just that, as it remained firmly shut when I kicked it. I kicked it again and then again, hoping that the third time really would be lucky.

Sadly, it wasn't and the door stayed closed and securely locked.

Why the hell is this door so hard to open? Why was it even locked in the first place? The only person I could think of that could have locked it was Jeb, but why would he want to hide anything from us?

I took a few steps back and then threw myself at the door.

My breath was knocked out of me as I hit the solid, and I mean solid, wood of the door. Instead of the door dramatically falling inwards as I had hoped it would, I sort of bounced off the wood and onto the floor, landing on my already bruised side.

As I lay gasping on the extremely dusty floor, I glared at the door angrily. That was the last straw; this door was going to be opened no matter what.

I was just climbing to my feet, still glaring, when I heard soft, even footsteps coming up the narrow stairs.

"Max, are you up here?" Of course it had to be Fang, didn't it?

"Yeah, I'm just sweeping the hallway." I called back, wincing as I straightened completely. I just had to fall on the same side that I had fallen on this morning.

"Then why is it so noisy?" He asked, appearing at the top of the stairs. He looked me up and down, obviously over what had happened this morning. "And why are you covered in dust?"

"I, uh, tripped on the broom." I improvised quickly, trying to subtly brush some of the dust off without him noticing.

Fang nodded slowly, disbelief clear in his eyes.

"Well, I'm done up here." I announced, picking up the broom and walking past him to the stairs.

Fang wisely didn't point out that the hallway was still incredibly dusty apart from the large, Max-shaped section of floor where I had been lying not long ago.

"Do you know where Iggy is?" I asked as he followed me downstairs.

"Lounge room." Was all he said before walking away to do whatever he had been doing before.

Not surprisingly, Iggy was where Fang had said he would be; sitting on the lounge watching, or listening to in his case, the TV.

I smiled at Gazzy and Angel, who were also in the room, before walking over to him.

"Hey, Ig, can you give me a hand with something?"

He turned his sightless blue eyes in my direction, "I guess."

I waited for him to stand and then led him out of the room.

"I need you to open a door for me."

"Oh, is that all? Wait, it's not Fang's is it?" He sounded somewhat panicked at that thought.

"No, why would I want to go into Fang's room?" Iggy relaxed somewhat. "Unless there's something in there you and him don't want me to see?" My tone sounded suspicious even to me.

He shook his head, "No, nothing you want to see in there."

"How would you know; you're blind."

"Do you want me to open this door for you or what?" He asked, trying to sound offended but really just trying to change the topic.

"Just go get what you need to open the damn thing." I told him, getting impatient.

Iggy walked down the hall towards his room, muttering something about teenage girls and how they were rude and demanding.

I clenched my fists and resisted the urge to throw something. I would only have to clean up the mess, I told myself, taking deep breaths.

Iggy returned a short time later, holding a few pieces of wire.

"Where did you even get those?" I asked, suspecting that he had stolen them from some old women or something.

"Found them." He replied, shrugging.

"Mmmm." I looked at him disbelievingly. "Anyway, follow me." I walked up the staircase and then stood waiting for Iggy in front of the door. I swear, if doors had mouths, this one would be smirking.

"Where's the door?" Iggy asked, stretching his hands out and running them along the wall.

"Just here." I guided his hands to the knob and watched as he tried to twist it. He then knelt down and poked one of the pieces of wire into the keyhole.

"Why exactly do you want me to open this door anyway?" He asked, twisting the wire.

"Just curious. Don't you want to know why there's a mysterious, locked door up here in the attic?"

Iggy shrugged again, pulling the wire out of the keyhole and exchanging it for a slightly finer piece. "Not really, it's probably just a storage room or something. Maybe Jeb's office."

I nodded noncommittally, forgetting he couldn't see and wondering why anyone would want an office up here. "I still just want to know."

"Maybe you should get a hobby." Iggy suggested, smiling as the door gave an almost inaudible click.

I reached out and turned the knob, stepping back as the door swung inwards.

"So what's in there?" Iggy asked.

"Just a desk and some filing cabinets." I replied, looking around the small room.

It was pretty bare and plain; the walls were white and the floor was unpolished wood. The only light came from a small and extremely dirty window above the wooden desk, which had nothing on it except for a few of those plastic trays that office people put forms and documents in.

"Anything remotely interesting?"

"No, not really."

"Well, I'm going then." With that, Iggy left.

I walked into the room, which really did look like a study, the floorboards creaking under my slight weight as I made my way over to the desk.

There were some sheets of paper in the trays and I decided to look at them later. The drawers beneath the desk were full of sheets of clean, white paper covered in black typing. The filing cabinets were open and inside each drawer was a stack of folders, neatly filed and labelled. One of the drawers, however, seemed to have nothing in it but maps. I pulled them out and sat on the floor, spreading the maps out around me.

The first one I looked at showed a detailed floor plan of a building and the surrounding area. At first I thought it was the plan for the house but I realised my mistake when I read the title; Itex Research Facility-California.

It was a map of the School. I stood up and tentatively pulled open one of the draws of the filing cabinet. I quickly skimmed through the labels on the folders and grew more and more agitated as I did so.

Written on each folder was a number, ranging from six through to eleven. After that number was a year, they steadily got older; the years going all the way back to the year of my birth.

I pulled out one folder and looked through it. Inside were neatly typed documents that said things like; 'subject shows above average endurance and the ability to endure sudden temperature changes', 'subject shows faster muscle development than the average human of the respective age' and 'wingspan now measures in excess of seven metres'.

I couldn't read anymore, I felt sick, to tell the truth. These were records, records of our growth and development from the time that we had spent at the school. Why were they in the house? Why had Jeb brought them here?

I pulled open every draw, my actions becoming more violent as I uncovered more of the folders. Walking over to the desk, I searched through the document trays; the sheets of papers in them detailed the 'projects' currently undertaken at the School and the success of each one.

I pulled the sheets from the drawers and sat on the floor, searching through them. I was disgusted by what I read.

My search came to a stop, however, when I turned the page and came face to face with the Director. She looked just like she did in dreams; all confidence and cold indifference to those around her.

'_She must be stopped.'_

I flinched as pain lanced through my head and let go of the paper, the simple statement repeating as the document drifted slowly downwards, coming to rest on top of the maps strewn across the floor.

It was just like my dreams, except this time I couldn't wake up.

I closed my eyes. Images of the Director flashed across the backs of my eyelids and then were replaced by images of bombs falling and areas of nothing but blackened trees and bare soil.

I clutched at my head desperately and tried to keep quiet as the pain steadily increased. I didn't want anyone to find me like this, didn't want them to discover the records and other horrible documents.

'_The By-Half Plan must not go ahead.'_ The voice warned and then vanished.

Slowly the pain ebbed away but I stayed where I was; curled up on the floor, not wanting to move unless the voice, and the horrible pain, came back.

Eventually I sat up and hesitantly reached for the page I had been reading before the voice from my dreams had decided to make an appearance.

I read the caption underneath the Director's photograph, my opinion of her decreasing as I did so. According to this document, my 'mother' was a pioneer in the recombinant life form creation program and also the supervisor of the By-Half Plan.

Angel was the only one who knew that I was related to the Director. I had told her that I didn't want the others to know and, although she didn't like keeping secrets from the rest of our family, she had done as I asked and not told anyone. After reading all this, I was positive that they would never know, they couldn't.

But what was the By-Half Plan and why was I being told that it couldn't go ahead? I scanned the rest of the document, my eyes coming to rest on a section labelled 'The purpose and creation of the By-Half Plan'.

All emotion leaked out of me as I read and a deep sense of fear of fear grew in the pit of my stomach. I couldn't stop reading, though, and continued to learn of what the Whitecoats had planned.

I was still reading when Fang came looking for me.

"Max, Iggy says lunch is ready." He looked at me more closely, concern flashing across his face. "Are you okay?"

I just stared at him, my eyes wide. "They're planning to halve the world's population, Fang. They're going to kill millions."

**Author's Note: First of all, I would like to dedicate this chapter to Sarra Elizabeth, who reviews every chapter and also encourages me to keep writing. **

**I'm sorry that I didn't update last week but I really didn't have time; I had two assignments to finish and a science test to study for. Anyway, I am updating now, so it's all good, hopefully.**

**confusion, whoever you may be, now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure that the flock can see in the dark but I don't think that they can see as well as they do during the day, so visibility would still be reduced at night. Thank you for pointing this out though, I have been thinking a lot about that issue.**

**Thank you, to everyone else who reviewed, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. **

**Please review and tell me if you can find any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, or if I've gotten anything wrong from the book or something like that. Or you can just tell me what you think of the story in general, I don't really mind.  
Thank you for reading,  
Perinne**


	3. Chapter 3

_Free, for now_

_-------------------------------_

_Chapter 3_

_In which Fang and Max discuss the end of the world, or half of it, anyway_

Fang's face didn't change, not even the slightest change of expression or flicker of emotion in his dark eyes. Instead, he seemed to freeze; his whole body completely still, a blank mask firmly in place.

I remembered what Iggy had told me this morning; that Fang had noticed I was acting differently. Maybe now hadn't been the best time to tell him that I had discovered plans to end half of the world, not when he already thought something was wrong with me. Then again, would there ever be a good time to tell someone that half of the world's population was going to be murdered?

I shook my head and tried to focus on the more important issues that had to be faced right now.

Fang still hadn't moved, which was getting a little scary, to tell the truth. He was just standing in the doorway, watching me.

"Fang?" I asked, feeling a little concerned with what staying so still could be doing to his health, both physical and mental.

He stared a while longer, dark eyes searching my face. I squirmed uncomfortably; it was like one of the inspections from the School, but with Fang instead of a Whitecoat.

"Lunch is ready." He told me again and went to walk out the door.

I jumped to feet and grabbed his arm, halting his movement. "That's all you have to say, 'Lunch is ready'?" I asked, incredulous and more than a little angry. Well, this was the end of the half the world we were talking about, or we should have been talking about, Fang didn't seem to find the topic particularly concerning or worth discussing.

"No," He said slowly, "It's not all I have to say but if that really is going to happen, I'm guessing you don't want everyone else to know just yet, in which case, we should go downstairs and eat lunch as normal before talking about this."

I glared at him and his stupid logic before I released his arm and walked past him out the door.

I walked downstairs into the kitchen and picked up one of the plates of sandwiches from the bench. I sat down on one of the stools and began to eat, not really tasting the food at all.

Fang silently joined us a moment later, just as Iggy was asking if I had found anything interesting in the room upstairs.

I shrugged nonchalantly for everyone else's benefit, "Not really, just some old papers about the house." I made my self sound bored in an effort to discourage the younger ones from thinking that they might be able to find something interesting up there.

"There's a room up in the attic? How come I didn't know about it? When did you find it, Max? What's in there? I bet it's really dusty up there, is it dusty?" Nudge paused and took a bite of one of sandwiches.

"Yes, there is a room up in the attic. You didn't know about because I only found it this morning and you hardly ever go up into the attic." I paused, trying to remember the rest of her questions. "It is pretty dusty, so I don't want you to go in there until Fang and I finish cleaning it up." I told her, using my 'leader' voice. I looked over at Angel and Gazzy who were sitting side by side on the kitchen stools, "That goes for you two as well."

"What about me?" Iggy asked sarcastically. "Am I allowed in the attic?"

"Only if you want to help clean." I told him, knowing that this would keep him downstairs.

He shrugged and went back to eating. I saw Fang smirking on the other side of the kitchen and allowed myself a brief smile.

I immediately felt guilty; how could I be smiling when half the world was going to murdered? No, they wouldn't be murdered, I would find a way to stop the Director and Itex, I had to.

The rest of my lunch suddenly seemed unappetising and I stood up and put in the bin before rinsing my plate clean at the sink.

"What? Isn't my cooking good enough for you?" Iggy asked, how he knew I hadn't eaten all of it, I don't know.

I ignored him. "Cleaning beckons," I told Angel, Gazzy and Nudge. "But if you need me, just stand at the bottom of the stairs and yell, okay?" Normally I don't appreciate yelling but, considering how badly I don't want them up in the attic today, I think I'll be able to endure. They shouldn't yell that much anyway; they're pretty independent and seem to pretty much look after themselves.

The way they act so much older than they are makes me sad sometimes, it's as if the Whitecoats robbed them of their childhood, making them into adults far too soon. No kid should have to experience what they've gone through, what everyone in this house has gone through.

I waited for Fang to finish and then we walked upstairs together. Once we were in the room, I shut the door behind us but decided not to lock it because, knowing my luck, we would get stuck in here or something.

Fang sat on the floor and I joined him. He looked at me expectantly, "Tell me how you found this place first."

I don't really like being told what to do but decided to let it slide just this once.

"Well, I was sweeping the hall when I noticed the door," I told him the whole story, only leaving out the parts where I tried unsuccessfully to open the door and also the brain attack or whatever the hell that had been.

"So you think this was Jeb's office?" He asked after I was done recounting the tale of my morning.

I shrugged, "Seems like the most logical explanation."

He nodded and picked up one of the maps, frowning when he recognised the School.

I handed him the document I had been reading when he interrupted me. "This explains most of it."

Fang took it and started reading, whilst I walked over to the filing cabinet that was now looking a bit worse for wear. Shuffling through the files, I managed to find the one marked 'Subject 6' which I recognised as my 'name' from the School and the year 1991, the year I was born.

I admit, I was a little curious; what would be written in here? Would it reveal who my parents were? We had occasionally talked about trying to find everyone's parents but I hadn't thought we had a very good chance of ever getting any information.

I glanced over at Fang, who was still reading, and he looked up to meet my eyes. He actually looked a little worried, which led me to believe that he had read the section dedicated to the 'By-Half Plan' or whatever they were calling it.

"Max," He hesitated, not a good sign, "What are we going to do?"

**Author's Note: Hello everyone, sorry that I didn't update sooner but the Velcoraptors got me. Well, not really but I did watch Jurassic Park yesterday.  
Anyway, to write of more important things, thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story and thank you to everyone who has read it. I hope you like the story and will keep on reading it as I update, which should be a bit more frequently from now on. **


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